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Wednesday, July 29, 2009

I am one of those gigantic handbag carriers. A line I often use is, "I need a purse big enough to comfortably carry a hardcover book."

Like the above picture? Not me (although feel free to confuse me with a sophisticated 20-something with fantastic hair) but the bag she is carrying is the stuff my dreams are made of.

Big.

While gone are my days of hauling around diapers and wipes, I think my wallet alone weighs two pounds. And then there's the make-up case and brush, the author signing kit (stickers, bookmarks, favorite pen), sunglasses, cell phone, notebook for all those wonderful book ideas I'm planning to have...and then, yeah, a book. Paperback, hardcover, sometimes even my Kindle.

On the rare occasion that I need to go somewhere with just a little evening bag, I'm stymied. I usually end up pulling the essentials from my wallet and going with the bare minimum...and feel anxious to get back home to my bag of tricks.

I'd love to hear from readers who go BIG, go small, go backpack, or merely pocket. What are your needs, what are your secrets? And what's the one item you can't do without?

8
fresh comments:

If that's BIG, then I go Medium -- I either carry a purse of that sort, but a bit smaller, or a custom-designed Timbuk2 backpack. I need the wallet--license, library card, and credit card so I can stop by at Starbucks; the pencil case (with my green pens); and the car keys.

I *Love* big bags. I own maybe one or two little bags that I've only ever worn to weddings and such where it would be totally inappropriate to accidently take out the bride with my monstrosity of a purse. I normally use my bag for school, so on a good day I manage to shove a binder, calculator, multiple books, pens/pencils, wallet, ipod, and a whole lot of junk (ie:receipts, coupons, mascara, broken pens...)into it. It's my baby =3 (Note: The books always go on top for easy access =D )

If I had to pick only a few must-haves to carry...probably my ipod and a book. Maybe my keys too, as my parents have been known to accidently lock me out of the house ;P

I tend to go back and forth between big purse and little purse. My taste changes every few months. I like to try to stay neat and organized and that doesn't happen with a big purse. I get lost in one otherwise!

I love the look of a big bag but sometimes I find myself having to carry my almost 3 year-old so I need it to be fairly light. I have one now that can hold a lot which comes in handy in the summer when you need a water bottle or sunscreen on hand. I'm not one to change out purses with every outfit.